Drawing board



G. L. JEAN DRAWING BOARD Oct. 11, 1.949.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 10, 1946 I A J. L M n au. n

NSS

Oct. 1l, 1949. G. L. JEAN 4 2,484,294

' DRAWING BOARD Filed Oct. l0, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor wd/Mm Patented Oct. 11, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in drawing boards and more particularly to a small portable type of drawing board including improvements in the attachment or mounting of a Straight edge element relative to the drawing or upper surface of the board, said straight edge being slidable from one edge of the board to the opposite edge thereof and a1- ways remaining parallel to said edges.

Another feature of this invention is to provide a board of this character whereon said straight edge can be raised slightly away from the drawing surface of the board thereby preventing the straight edge, when moved, from smearing ink work and also allowing paper to be placed under said straight edge and fastened to the drawing surface.

. ,A further important feature is to provide a device of this character which is of simple and practical construction, efficient and reliable in operation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein -like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of the invention.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the invention with parts broken away to show the grooves for the endless cable.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary end view.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line l-ll in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5 in Figure 2.

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 6-6 in Figure 5, and

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 'I-l in Figure 1.

Referring now tothe drawing in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration, I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 represents an upper rectangular 'wooden slab affording a drawing surface and having a straight edge 6 movable thereon. A lower slab 'l of the same relative area as slab 5 is disposed under slab 5 and is secured thereto by screws 8 at each corner of the board. The heads 9 of said screws are countersunk in circular recesses lll so that the screw heads offer no offensive roughened surface to the bottom of slab l. At each corner of slab 5 and in the bottom surface thereof are segmental recesses ll, and journaled on the screws 8 within the recesses II are horizontal pulleys I2, as shown in Figure 4.

The wooden slab 5 contains the straight edge attachment and control mechanism therefor. For the purpose of this mechanism, the slab 5 is rabbeted at its lower side edges as at I2a, and a pair of brackets i3 are provided Whose upper ends Ita are substantially channel shaped and face inwardly to grip the ends I4 of the straight edge. A pair of screws Ma extend through the brackets and into the straight edge. The bracket I3 has lower ends I5 that are bent inwardly and are slidable in the rabbeted lower side edges of the slab 5. Each bracket end I5 is provided with a pair of keyhole slots I6, with the -larger ends Il of said slots facing each other.

For the purpose of maintaining the straight edge element 6 in a horizontal position and permitting movement thereof from the upper edge of the board to the lower edge, a pair of cables I3 and I9 are used. These cables are extended around pulleys I2 at opposite corners of the board and lie in crossed `diagonal grooves ISU, and the rabbeted edges l2@ in the bottom surface of slab 5. Each end of each cable is secured to a fastener 20 having a hollow end 2l in which the end of the cable is received and held therein by 4pressing portions of the fastener inwardly te bite into the cable as at 22. The outer end lof the fastener material is bent angularly and formed with a flat head 23 insertable in a slot I6 for retaining the fastener in position. The fasteners 2i] at opposite ends of cables I8 and I 9 are placed in slots I6 at the upper edges of brackets I3 at opposite ends of straight edge 6 and the fasteners 2U at the other ends of said cables are placed in the lower slots I6 lof the brackets at the opposite ends of the straight edge, to form an endless flexible connector as shown in Figure 2.

The brackets I3 fit snugly against the side edges of the board 5 and may be raised slightly relative thereto in order that the straight edge may be raised as before mentioned.

The straight edge is moved toward either the top or bottom edge of the board :by grasping one end of the straight edge and sliding it up or down, the cables I3 and I9 equalizing the pulling force at the ends of the straight edge to prevent binding of the brackets I3 at the edges of the board.

In view of the foregoing description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding bf the construction, operation and advantages of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim. The straight edge preferably has a transparent edge 'portion so that the draftsman may see the work therethrough.

What I claim:

A drawing board comprising an upper rectangular slab affording an upper drawing surface, said upper slab having crossed diagonal grooves and corner recesses in its bottom surface and being rabbeted at the lower portions of' its side edges from one corner recess to the other:y

on each side of the slab, a lower slab of the same shape and size as the upper slab secured to the under surface 'of the latter and closing the bottoms of said grooves, recesses and rab-bets, a straight edge movable on said drawing surface and projecting .beyond the side edges of the upper slab, a bracket carried by each end of the straight edge, said bracket having an inwardly facing channel shaped upper end receiving and secured to the end of said straight edge and a horizontal lower end portion extending into the adjacent riabbet and provided with a pair of oppositely facing keyhole slots whose larger ends are adjacent, the lower ends of the brackets being vertically movable in the rabbets to permit raising of the straight edge from the drawing surface, pulleys journaled in the corner recesses, cables extending around said pulleys and through said grooves and rabbets and connected to the lower end piortions of the brackets, and angular fasteners having horizontal arms secured to the ends of the cables and having vertical arms provided with end heads retainingly engaged in the keyhole slots of the brackets.

GERALD L. JEAN.

REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 195,915 Bergner Oct. 9, 1877 418,688 Converse Jan. 7, 1890 607,814 Aigner July 26, 1898 2,244,549 Blakeslee June 3, 1941 2,317,856 Mock Apr. 27, 1943 2,332,967 Fatkin Oct. 26, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date '734,914 France Aug. 13, 1932 

